Defensive
by PhoenixFireFourteen
Summary: They had been through too much to ever believe in true love. But that was what made them so perfect for each other. Sirius Black and Marlene McKinnon!


**Defensive**

Marlene McKinnon was defensive.

Once, she had been a young, carefree child growing up happily in the wizard world. She remembered how her dad used to sit her on his lap in his special armchair and tell her stories of 'the good old days'. She remembered how her mother would come and tuck her into bed every night always whispering the same words, "Good night Marlie darling. We love you so very much." They had been a typical happy family.

But then one day everything had changed. Her parents had gone out that day, leaving young 5 year old Marlene with her grandmother whom she had never really got along with due to her tendency to be extremely strict. She had been playing with her dolls quietly (children should be seen and not heard according to her grandmother) when a group of solemn looking ministry officials had apparated straight into their home. Her parents had been killed by death eaters. Her auror parents who were the strongest people she'd ever known were dead. Gone. Broken.

Her world was turned upside down.

She was no longer the happy-go-lucky child she used to be; now she was wise beyond her years. She knew exactly what her parents had died for - her grandma was never one for mollycoddling - and knew that someday she would be just like them. She would be a Gryffindor and die fighting for what she believed in.

She was never one to open up to strangers after that. She wasn't rude, just preferred to be alone. When she first met her best friends at Hogwarts, Mary McDonald, Lily Evans, and Alice Prewett, it took her months to open up to them. They understood her wonderfully as most girl friends do, but there were some things they'd never get.

But when she first met Sirius Black, it was different. She looked into those stormy grey eyes and knew that he, just like her, was the same. He had secrets hidden behind those eyes - ones only his closest friends could ever understand.

* * *

Sirius Black was defensive.

He was always the loud, older big brother. He would lead the way banging pots and pans with his little brother Regulus following meekly, happy just to be included. He always knew his mother got very agitated and screamed whilst his father would become cold and angry and had no regrets on punishing him brutally if he did something wrong. But sometimes he didn't see what was wrong with what he was doing. His mother always told him not to speak with the muggle children at the end of the road as they were 'filthy, disgusting animals'. Walburga Black made them out to be dogs. But Sirius had always had a soft spot for dogs.

Soon he was old enough to realise that his parent were simply wrong, he just didn't hold with such rubbish. When he got sorted into Gryffindor it was the end of his special relationship with his little brother. Regulus was the golden child now.

No longer overshadowed, Regulus became the person his parents wanted Sirius to be. He pretended it didn't hurt him but deep down his heart ached whenever he saw Regulus trailing after the Slytherins and the other would-be death eaters.

He made up for it by being rebellious. He was best friends with a half-blood, a werewolf and one of the biggest blood traitors ever. He pulled many pranks, mostly on the Slytherins. He often looked to his older cousin Andy for support, who had been disgraced from the house of Black and blasted off the family tree for marrying a muggleborn. He talked and laughed and acted as if nothing was the matter, but inside he was a mess. The other Marauders (his real brothers) understood him most of the time but there were some things even they would never get.

But when he first met Marlene McKinnon, it was different. He looked into those icy blue eyes and knew that she, just like him, was the same. She had secrets hidden behind those eyes - ones only her closest friends could ever understand.

* * *

They had been called many things in their lives. Cynical, rude, anti-social, private. But mostly they were just defensive. They had been through too much to ever believe in true love. But that was what made them so perfect for each other. They both understood one another more than they'd ever know and more that they'd ever care to admit.

For after all, all it really was simply a defense A protective barrier to shield themselves from the constant emotional onslaught. A mask of cool indifference or conceited arrogance to hide the pain and fear inside their hearts. But their eyes, mirroring their souls, gave them away. Beneath those icy blue or stormy grey orbs lay a hidden world of secrets and sorrow.

But when they first met each other, it was different. They looked into those each other's eyes and knew that the other, just like them, was the same. They had secrets hidden behind those eyes - ones only their closest friends could ever understand.

They were, after all, Marlene McKinnon and Sirius Black.


End file.
